The spokesman of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) IT Board Danish told reporters that Chinese high-tech companies including OPPO and Haier are interested to invest in the first-ever digital city of Pakistan.
He said that the Pakistan Digital City (PDC) project is presently in the planning stage. He further said that KP has allocated more than 43,000-square-meter area for the first phase of the project in Haripur, a few miles north of Islamabad. He added that work is going on and the area has been fenced.
He added that this location is ideal that is close to the communication equipment producers like Telephone Industries of Pakistan (TIP) and National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC). The project site is also adjacent to the planned Pak-Austria Fachhochschule Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology.
Danish said that a Pakistani consultancy firm NESPAK is responsible for planning and designing of the project, while the NRTC will be a key implementing partner.
He said the PDC will host various ICT companies and form various clusters such as Electronics Cluster, Software Development Cluster, and Research and Innovation Cluster. It will create 50,000 direct and indirect jobs and more than $500 million in annual revenue, he said.
Waheed Zaman, a senior official associated with the project, said “The PDC would become a milestone in the digital transformation of the country as per the plan designed by Pakistani and Chinese experts.” He added that potential Chinese investors, communication technology firms, software houses, and related companies are being consulted by the KP government in order to establish their businesses here.
Moreover, Assistant Professor of Computer Sciences in Iqra University, Islamabad, Haleem Khan said that a large number of IT and computer science students are seeking jobs but are jobless and such projects will help the youth to get jobs and play their role in making Pakistan a prosperous country in the region.
